Search

Context. While over 1000 supernova remnants (SNRs) are estimated to exist in the Milky Way, only less than 400 have been found to date. In the context of this apparent deficiency, more than 150 SNR candidates were recently identified in the D-configuration Very Large Array (VLA-D) continuum images of the 4--8 GHz global view on star formation (GLOSTAR) survey, in the Galactic longitude range $-2^\circ, Comment: To be published in A&A. 21 pages, 15 figures

The aim of the present work is to study structure and gas kinematics in the photodissociation regions (PDRs) around the compact HII regions S235A and S235C. We observe the [CII], [13CII] and [OI] line emission, using SOFIA/upGREAT and complement them by data of HCO+ and CO. We use the [13CII] line to measure the optical depth of the [CII] emission, and find that the [CII] line profiles are influenced by self-absorption, while the [13CII] line remains unaffected by these effects. Hence, for dense PDRs, [13CII] emission is a better tracer of gas kinematics. The optical depth of the [CII] line is up to 10 in S235A. We find an expanding motion of the [CII]-emitting layer of the PDRs into the front molecular layer in both regions. Comparison of the gas and dust columns shows that gas components visible neither in the [CII] nor in low-J CO lines may contribute to the total column across S235A. We test whether the observed properties of the PDRs match the predictions of spherical models of expanding HII region + PDR + molecular cloud. Integrated intensities of the [13CII], [CII] and [OI] lines are well-represented by the model, but the models do not reproduce the double-peaked [CII] line profiles due to an insufficient column density of C+. The model predicts that the [OI] line could be a more reliable tracer of gas kinematics, but the foreground self-absorbing material does not allow using it in the considered regions., Comment: accepted to MNRAS

The morphology of the Milky Way is still a matter of debate. In order to shed light on uncertainties surrounding the structure of the Galaxy, in this paper, we study the imprint of spiral arms on the distribution and properties of its molecular gas. To do so, we take full advantage of the SEDIGISM survey that observed a large area of the inner Galaxy in the $^{13}$CO(2-1) line at an angular resolution of 28". We analyse the influences of the spiral arms by considering the features of the molecular gas emission as a whole across the longitude-velocity map built from the full survey. Additionally, we examine the properties of the molecular clouds in the spiral arms compared to the properties of their counterparts in the inter-arm regions. Through flux and luminosity probability distribution functions, we find that the molecular gas emission associated with the spiral arms does not differ significantly from the emission between the arms. On average, spiral arms show masses per unit length of $\sim10^5-10^6$ M$_{\odot} $kpc$^{-1}$. This is similar to values inferred from data sets in which emission distributions were segmented into molecular clouds. By examining the cloud distribution across the Galactic plane, we infer that the molecular mass in the spiral arms is a factor of 1.5 higher than that of the inter-arm medium, similar to what is found for other spiral galaxies in the local Universe. We observe that only the distributions of cloud mass surface densities and aspect ratio in the spiral arms show significant differences compared to those of the inter-arm medium; other observed differences appear instead to be driven by a distance bias. By comparing our results with simulations and observations of nearby galaxies, we conclude that the measured quantities would classify the Milky Way as a flocculent spiral galaxy, rather than as a grand-design one., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 38 pages (17 of Appendices), 26 figures, 7 tables. The updated SEDIGISM cloud catalogue, containing spiral arm association information, will be available as part of the SEDIGISM database ( https://sedigism.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/index.html )

The Southern HII Region Discovery Survey (SHRDS) is a 900 hour Australia Telescope Compact Array 4-10 GHz radio continuum and radio recombination line (RRL) survey of Galactic HII regions and infrared-identified HII region candidates in the southern sky. For this data release, we reprocess all previously published SHRDS data and include an additional ~450 hours of observations. The search for new HII regions is now complete over the range 259 deg < Galactic longitude < 346 deg, |Galactic latitude| < 4 deg for HII region candidates with predicted 6 GHz continuum peak brightnesses >30 mJy/beam. We detect radio continuum emission toward 730 targets altogether including previously known nebulae and HII region candidates. By averaging ~18 RRL transitions, we detect RRL emission toward 206 previously known HII regions and 436 HII region candidates. Including the northern sky surveys, over the last decade the HII Region Discovery Surveys have more than doubled the number of known Galactic HII regions. The census of HII regions in the WISE Catalog of Galactic HII Regions is now complete for nebulae with 9 GHz continuum flux densities > 250 mJy. We compare the RRL properties of the newly discovered SHRDS nebulae with those of all previously known HII regions. The median RRL full-width at half-maximum line width of the entire WISE Catalog HII region population is 23.9 km/s and is consistent between Galactic quadrants. The observed Galactic longitude-velocity asymmetry in the population of HII regions probably reflects underlying spiral structure in the Milky Way., 37 pages, 10 figures, 11 tables (full tables in machine readable format available in the online journal), 1 appendix. Survey website: https://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/en/community/shrds/

We have investigated the stellar and interstellar content of the distant star formation region IRAS 17591-2228 (WISE HII region GAL 007.47+0.06). It is associated to a water maser, whose parallax distance is d=20.4^{+2.8} {-2.2} kpc, supported by independent measurements of proper motion and radial velocity. It is projected in the same direction as an extremely red (J-Ks ~ 6 mag) group of stars, and a shell of mid-infrared emission. We qualify the group of stars as a cluster candidate, VVV CL177. Its radius spans between 0.45' and 1' and contains at least two young stellar objects with an extreme extinction near Av ~ 40 mag. Yet more analysis will be required to determine is it is a real single cluster associated with the water maser. The 13CO emissions at the radial velocity of the maser corresponds to the mid-infrared emission., 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Radiative and mechanical feedback of massive stars regulates star formation and galaxy evolution. Positive feedback triggers the creation of new stars by collecting dense shells of gas, while negative feedback disrupts star formation by shredding molecular clouds. Although key to understanding star formation, their relative importance is unknown. Here, we report velocity-resolved observations from the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) legacy program FEEDBACK of the massive star-forming region RCW 120 in the [CII] 1.9-THz fine-structure line, revealing a gas shell expanding at 15 km/s. Complementary APEX (Atacama Pathfinder Experiment) CO J=3-2 345-GHz observations exhibit a ring structure of molecular gas, fragmented into clumps that are actively forming stars. Our observations demonstrate that triggered star formation can occur on much shorter time scales than hitherto thought (, 8 Pages, 4 Figures, 1 Table (+16 Page Supplementary Materials with 10 Figures). Published in Science Advances on April 9th, 2021, with free open access to the online article available at https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/15/eabe9511

The Milky Way contains thousands of H II region candidates identified by their characteristic mid-infrared morphology, but lacking detections of ionized gas tracers such as radio continuum or radio recombination line emission. These targets thus remain unconfirmed as H II regions. With only $\sim$2500 confirmed H II regions in the Milky Way, Galactic surveys are deficient by several thousand nebulae when compared to external galaxies with similar star formation rates. Using sensitive 9 GHz radio continuum observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), we explore a sample of H II region candidates in order to set observational limits on the actual total population of Galactic H II regions. We target all infrared-identified "radio quiet" sources from the WISE Catalog of Galactic H II regions between $245^{\circ}\geq\ell\geq90^{\circ}$ with infrared diameters less than 80$^{\prime\prime}$. We detect radio continuum emission from 50% of the targeted H II region candidates, providing strong evidence that most of the radio quiet candidates are bona fide HII regions. We measure the peak and integrated radio flux densities and compare the inferred Lyman continuum fluxes using models of OB-stars. We conclude that stars of approximately spectral type B2 and earlier are able to create H II regions with similar infrared and radio continuum morphologies as the more luminous H II regions created by O-stars. From our 50% detection rate of "radio quiet" sources, we set a lower limit of $\sim$7000 for the H II region population of the Galaxy. Thus the vast majority of the Milky Way's H II regions remain to be discovered., Comment: 11 pages of text, 146 infrared/radio images of faint HII region candidates

The SEDIGISM (Structure, Excitation and Dynamics of the Inner Galactic Interstellar Medium) survey used the APEX telescope to map 84 deg^2 of the Galactic plane between l = -60 deg and l = +31 deg in several molecular transitions, including 13CO(2-1) and C18O(2-1), thus probing the moderately dense (~10^3 cm^-3) component of the interstellar medium. With an angular resolution of 30'' and a typical 1-sigma sensitivity of 0.8-1.0 K at 0.25 km/s velocity resolution, it gives access to a wide range of structures, from individual star-forming clumps to giant molecular clouds and complexes. The coverage includes a good fraction of the first and fourth Galactic quadrants, allowing us to constrain the large scale distribution of cold molecular gas in the inner Galaxy. In this paper we provide an updated overview of the full survey and the data reduction procedures used. We also assess the quality of these data and describe the data products that are being made publicly available as part of this first data release (DR1). We present integrated maps and position-velocity maps of the molecular gas and use these to investigate the correlation between the molecular gas and the large scale structural features of the Milky Way such as the spiral arms, Galactic bar and Galactic centre. We find that approximately 60 per cent of the molecular gas is associated with the spiral arms and these appear as strong intensity peaks in the derived Galactocentric distribution. We also find strong peaks in intensity at specific longitudes that correspond to the Galactic centre and well known star forming complexes, revealing that the 13CO emission is concentrated in a small number of complexes rather than evenly distributed along spiral arms., MNRAS, in press

We use the 13CO(2-1) emission from the SEDIGISM high-resolution spectral-line survey of the inner Galaxy, to extract the molecular cloud population with a large dynamic range in spatial scales, using the SCIMES algorithm. This work compiles a cloud catalogue with a total of 10663 molecular clouds, 10300 of which we were able to assign distances and compute physical properties. We study some of the global properties of clouds using a science sample, consisting of 6664 well resolved sources and for which the distance estimates are reliable. In particular, we compare the scaling relations retrieved from SEDIGISM to those of other surveys, and we explore the properties of clouds with and without high-mass star formation. Our results suggest that there is no single global property of a cloud that determines its ability to form massive stars, although we find combined trends of increasing mass, size, surface density and velocity dispersion for the sub-sample of clouds with ongoing high-mass star formation. We then isolate the most extreme clouds in the SEDIGISM sample (i.e. clouds in the tails of the distributions) to look at their overall Galactic distribution, in search for hints of environmental effects. We find that, for most properties, the Galactic distribution of the most extreme clouds is only marginally different to that of the global cloud population. The Galactic distribution of the largest clouds, the turbulent clouds and the high-mass star-forming clouds are those that deviate most significantly from the global cloud population. We also find that the least dynamically active clouds (with low velocity dispersion or low virial parameter) are situated further afield, mostly in the least populated areas. However, we suspect that part of these trends may be affected by some observational biases, and thus require further follow up work in order to be confirmed., 25 pages (+ appendices, 15 pages), 26 figures, MNRAS

FEEDBACK is a SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) legacy program dedicated to study the interaction of massive stars with their environment. It performs a survey of 11 galactic high mass star-forming regions in the 158 μm (1.9 THz) line of [C II] and the 63 μm (4.7 THz) line of [O I]. We employ the 14 pixel Low Frequency Array and 7 pixel High Frequency Array upGREAT heterodyne instrument to spectrally resolve (0.24 MHz) these far-infrared fine structure lines. With a total observing time of 96h, we will cover ∼6700 arcmin2 at 14 1) angular resolution for the [C II] line and 6 3 for the [O I] line. The observations started in spring 2019 (Cycle 7). Our aim is to understand the dynamics in regions dominated by different feedback processes from massive stars such as stellar winds, thermal expansion, and radiation pressure, and to quantify the mechanical energy injection and radiative heating efficiency. This is an important science topic because feedback of massive stars on their environment regulates the physical conditions and sets the emission characteristics in the interstellar medium (ISM), influences the star formation activity through molecular cloud dissolution and compression processes, and drives the evolution of the ISM in galaxies. The [C II] line provides the kinematics of the gas and is one of the dominant cooling lines of gas for low to moderate densities and UV fields. The [O I] line traces warm and high-density gas, excited in photodissociations regions with a strong UV field or by shocks. The source sample spans a broad range in stellar characteristics from single OB stars, to small groups of O stars, to rich young stellar clusters, to ministarburst complexes. It contains well-known targets such as Aquila, the Cygnus X region, M16, M17, NGC7538, NGC6334, Vela, and W43 as well as a selection of H II region bubbles, namely RCW49, RCW79, and RCW120. These [C II] maps, together with the less explored [O I] 63 μm line, provide an outstanding database for the community. They will be made publically available and will trigger further studies and follow-up observations.

Sgr E is a massive star formation complex found toward the Galactic center that consists of numerous discrete, compact HII regions. It is located at the intersection between the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) and the far dust lane of the Galactic bar, similar to "hot spots" seen in external galaxies. Compared with other Galactic star formation complexes, the Sgr E complex is unusual because its HII regions all have similar radio luminosities and angular extents, and they are deficient in ~10micron emission from their photodissociation regions (PDRs). Our Green Bank Telescope (GBT) radio recombination line observations increase the known membership of Sgr E to 19 HII regions. There are 43 additional HII region candidates in the direction of Sgr E, 26 of which are detected for the first time here using MeerKAT 1.28GHz data. Therefore, the true HII region population of Sgr E may number >60. Using APEX SEDIGISM 13CO 2-1 data we discover a 3.0x10^5 Solar mass molecular cloud associated with Sgr E, but find few molecular or far-infrared concentrations at the locations of the Sgr E HII regions. Comparison with simulations and an analysis of its radio continuum properties indicate that Sgr E formed upstream in the far dust lane of the Galactic bar a few Myr ago and will overshoot the CMZ, crashing into the near dust lane. We propose that the unusual infrared properties of the Sgr E HII regions are caused by their orbit about the Galactic center, which have possibly stripped their PDRs., Accepted to ApJ

With the $Karl~G.~Jansky$ Very Large Array (VLA) in C-configuration, we observed a large portion of the first Galactic quadrant ($l=14.0-67.4^\circ $ and $\lvert b \rvert \leq 1.25^\circ $) achieving an angular resolution of $\leq 40^{\prime\prime}$. At $L$ Band, the WIDAR correlator at the VLA was set to cover the 21~cm HI line, four OH transitions, a series of H$n\alpha$ radio recombination lines (RRLs; $n=151$ to 186), and eight 128~MHz wide continuum spectral windows (SPWs) simultaneously. The HI emission shows clear filamentary substructures at negative velocities with low velocity crowding. The emission at positive velocities is more smeared-out likely due to higher spatial and velocity crowding of structures at the positive velocities. Comparing to the spiral arm model of the Milky Way, the atomic gas follows the Sagittarius and Perseus Arm well but with significant material in the inter-arm regions. With the C-configuration-only HI+continuum data, we produced a HI optical depth map of the THOR areal coverage from 228 absorption spectra with the nearest-neighbor method. With this $\tau$ map, we corrected the HI emission for optical depth and the derived column density is 38% higher than the column density with optically thin assumption. The total HI mass with optical depth correction in the survey region is 4.7$\times10^8~M_\odot$, 31% more than the mass derived assuming the emission is optically thin. If we apply this 31% correction to the whole Milky Way, the total atomic gas mass would be 9.4-10.5$\times 10^9~M_\odot$. Comparing the HI with existing CO data, we find a significant increase in the atomic-to-molecular gas ratio from the spiral arms to the inter-arm regions., Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, accepted to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We present a study of the filamentary structure in the emission from the neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) at 21 cm across velocity channels in the 40'' and 1.5-km/s resolution position-position-velocity cube resulting from the combination of the single-dish and interferometric observations in The HI/OH/Recombination (THOR) line survey. Using the Hessian matrix method in combination with tools from circular statistics, we find that the majority of the filamentary structures in the HI emission are aligned with the Galactic plane. Part of this trend can be assigned to long filamentary structures that are coherent across several velocity channels. However, we also find ranges of Galactic longitude and radial velocity where the HI filamentary structures are preferentially oriented perpendicular to the Galactic plane. These are located (i) around the tangent point of the Scutum spiral arm, $l \approx 28^{\circ}$ and $v_{\rm LSR}\approx 100$ km/s, (ii) toward $l \approx 45^{\circ}$ and $v_{\rm LSR}\approx 50$ km/s, (iii) around the Riegel-Crutcher cloud, and (iv) toward the terminal velocities. Comparison with numerical simulations indicates that the prevalence of horizontal filamentary structures is most likely the result of the large-scale dynamics and that vertical structures identified in (i) and (ii) may arise from the combined effect of supernova (SN) feedback and strong magnetic fields. The vertical filamentary structures in (iv) can be related to the presence of clouds from extra-planar HI gas falling back into the Galactic plane after being expelled by SNe. Our results indicate that a systematic characterization of the emission morphology toward the Galactic plane provides an unexplored link between the observations and the dynamical behaviour of the interstellar medium, from the effect of large-scale Galactic dynamics to the Galactic fountains driven by SNe., Comment: 28 pages. 37 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (09SEP2020)

The Green Bank Telescope (GBT) Diffuse Ionized Gas Survey (GDIGS) is a fully-sampled radio recombination line (RRL) survey of the inner Galaxy at C-band (4-8 GHz). We average together ~15 Hn$\alpha$ RRLs within the receiver bandpass to improve the spectral signal-to-noise ratio. The average beam size for the RRL observations at these frequencies is ~2'. We grid these data to have spatial and velocity spacings of 30" and 0.5 km/s, respectively. Here we discuss the first RRL data from GDIGS: a six square-degree-area surrounding the Galactic HII region complex W43. We attempt to create a map devoid of emission from discrete HII regions and detect RRL emission from the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) across nearly the entire mapped area. We estimate the intensity of the DIG emission by a simple empirical model, taking only the HII region locations, angular sizes, and RRL intensities into account. The DIG emission is predominantly found at two distinct velocities: ~40 km/s and ~100 km/s. While the 100 km/s component is associated with W43 at a distance of ~6 kpc, the origin of the 40 km/s component is less clear. Since the distribution of the 40 km/s emission cannot be adequately explained by ionizing sources at the same velocity, we hypothesize that the plasma at the two velocity components is interacting, placing the 40 km/s DIG at a similar distance as the 100 km/s emission. We find a correlation between dust temperature and integrated RRL intensity, suggesting that the same radiation field that heats the dust also maintains the ionization of the DIG., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Ionized interstellar gas is an important component of the interstellar medium and its lifecycle. The recent evidence for a widely distributed highly ionized warm interstellar gas with a density intermediate between the warm ionized medium (WIM) and compact HII regions suggests that there is a major gap in our understanding of the interstellar gas. Here we investigate the properties of the dense warm ionized medium (D-WIM) in the Milky Way using spectrally resolved SOFIA GREAT [NII] 205 micron line emission and Green Bank Telescope hydrogen radio recombination lines (RRL) data, supplemented by Herschel PACS [NII] 122 micron data, and spectrally resolved 12CO. We observed eight lines of sight in the 20deg 50% of the observed [CII] intensity along these LOS. The kinetic temperatures we derive are too low to explain the presence of N+ resulting from electron collisional ionization and/or proton charge transfer of atomic nitrogen. Rather, these regions most likely are ionized by extreme ultraviolet radiation., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures

Massive to lobate volcanic flows and brecciated hyaloclastite units in the Abitibi greenstone belt allow investigation of Late Archæan seafloor alteration and associated incorporation into these rocks of nitrogen (N) biogeochemical signatures. In this suite (the Blake River Group), hyaloclastite units containing putative microbial ichnofossils are particularly enriched in large-ion lithophile elements (K, Rb, Ba, Cs), B, and Li, consistent with their having experienced the greatest fluid–rock interaction during subseafloor hydrothermal alteration. Similarly, silicate-δ18O and δ15N values for samples from the hyaloclastites show the greatest shifts from plausible magmatic values. The chemical and isotopic patterns in these tholeiitic igneous rocks greatly resemble those in modern altered seafloor basalts, consistent with the preservation of an Archæan seafloor alteration signature. The N enrichments and shifts in δ15N appear to reflect stabilization of illite and interaction with fluids carrying sedimentary/organic signatures. Enrichments of N (and the δ15N of this N) in altered glass volcanic rocks on Earth's modern and ancient seafloor point to the potential utility of N for tracing past and present biogeochemical processes in similar rocks at/near the Mars surface.

The metallicity structure of the Milky Way disk stems from the chemodynamical evolutionary history of the Galaxy. We use the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to observe ~8-10 GHz hydrogen radio recombination line and radio continuum emission toward 82 Galactic HII regions. We use these data to derive the electron temperatures and metallicities for these nebulae. Since collisionally excited lines from metals (e.g., oxygen, nitrogen) are the dominant cooling mechanism in HII regions, the nebular metallicity can be inferred from the electron temperature. Including previous single dish studies, there are now 167 nebulae with radio-determined electron temperature and either parallax or kinematic distance determinations. The interferometric electron temperatures are systematically 10% larger than those found in previous single dish studies, likely due to incorrect data analysis strategies, optical depth effects, and/or the observation of different gas by the interferometer. By combining the interferometer and single dish samples, we find an oxygen abundance gradient across the Milky Way disk with a slope of -0.052 +/- 0.004 dex/kpc. We also find significant azimuthal structure in the metallicity distribution. The slope of the oxygen gradient varies by a factor of ~2 when Galactocentric azimuths near 30 deg are compared with those near 100 deg. This azimuthal structure is consistent with simulations of Galactic chemodynamical evolution influenced by spiral arms., 51 pages, 16 figures, 7 tables, 1 appendix; accepted for publication in ApJ

Citizen science has helped astronomers comb through large data sets to identify patterns and objects that are not easily found through automated processes. The Milky Way Project (MWP), a citizen science initiative on the Zooniverse platform, presents internet users with infrared (IR) images from Spitzer Space Telescope Galactic plane surveys. MWP volunteers make classification drawings on the images to identify targeted classes of astronomical objects. We present the MWP second data release (DR2) and an updated data reduction pipeline written in Python. We aggregate ${\sim}3$ million classifications made by MWP volunteers during the years 2012-2017 to produce the DR2 catalogue, which contains 2600 IR bubbles and 599 candidate bow-shock driving stars. The reliability of bubble identifications, as assessed by comparison to visual identifications by trained experts and scoring by a machine-learning algorithm, is found to be a significant improvement over DR1. We assess the reliability of IR bow shocks via comparison to expert identifications and the colours of candidate bow-shock driving stars in the 2MASS point-source catalogue. We hence identify highly-reliable subsets of 1394 DR2 bubbles and 453 bow-shock driving stars. Uncertainties on object coordinates and bubble size/shape parameters are included in the DR2 catalog. Compared with DR1, the DR2 bubbles catalogue provides more accurate shapes and sizes. The DR2 catalogue identifies 311 new bow shock driving star candidates, including three associated with the giant HII regions NGC 3603 and RCW 49., Comment: 27 pages, 29 figures. Accepted to MNRAS. The MWP DR2 bubble and bow shock catalogues, along with a list of Zooniverse volunteers who contributed to the project, will be made available through the CDS Vizier service and as supporting information through MNRAS

Although the 2P3/2-2P1/2 transition of [CII] at 158um is known to be an excellent tracer of active star formation, we still do not have a complete understanding of where within star formation regions the emission originates. Here, we use SOFIA upGREAT observations of [CII] emission toward the HII region complex Sh2-235 (S235) to better understand in detail the origin of [CII] emission. We complement these data with a fully-sampled Green Bank Telescope radio recombination line map tracing the ionized hydrogen gas. About half of the total [CII] emission associated with S235 is spatially coincident with ionized hydrogen gas, although spectroscopic analysis shows little evidence that this emission is coming from the ionized hydrogen volume. Velocity-integrated [CII] intensity is strongly correlated with WISE 12um intensity across the entire complex, indicating that both trace ultra-violet radiation fields. The 22um and radio continuum intensities are only correlated with [CII] intensity in the ionized hydrogen portion of the S235 region and the correlations between the [CII] and molecular gas tracers are poor across the region. We find similar results for emission averaged over a sample of external galaxies, although the strength of the correlations is weaker. Therefore, although many tracers are correlated with the strength of [CII] emission, only WISE 12um emission is correlated on small-scales of the individual HII region S235 and also has a decent correlation at the scale of entire galaxies. Future studies of a larger sample of Galactic HII regions would help to determine whether these results are truly representative., Comment: Accepted to ApJ

The Survey of Ionized Gas of the Galaxy, Made with the Arecibo telescope (SIGGMA) provides a fully-sampled view of the radio recombination line (RRL) emission from the portion of the Galactic plane visible by Arecibo. Observations use the Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFA), which has a FWHM beam size of 3.4 arcmin. Twelve hydrogen RRLs from H163$\alpha$ to H174$\alpha$ are located within the instantaneous bandpass from 1225 MHz to 1525 MHz. We provide here cubes of average ("stacked") RRL emission for the inner Galaxy region $32 \le \ell \le 70$ degrees, $|b|\le1.5$ degree, with an angular resolution of 6 arcmin. The stacked RRL rms at 5.1 km/s velocity resolution is $\sim0.65$ mJy beam$^{-1}$, making this the most sensitive large-scale fully-sampled RRL survey extant. We use SIGGMA data to catalogue 319 RRL detections in the direction of 244 known HII regions, and 108 new detections in the direction of 79 HII region candidates. We identify 11 Carbon RRL emission regions, all of which are spatially coincident with known HII regions. We detect RRL emission in the direction of 14 of the 32 supernova remnants (SNRs) found in the survey area. This RRL emission frequently has the same morphology as the SNRs. The RRL velocities give kinematic distances in agreement with those found in the literature, indicating that RRLs may provide an additional tool to constrain distances to SNRs. Finally, we analyze the two bright star-forming complexes: W49 and W51. We discuss the possible origins of the RRL emission in directions of SNRs W49B and W51C.

Aims: To constrain models of high-mass star formation it is important to identify the massive dense cores (MDCs) that are able to form high-mass star(s). This is one of the purposes of the Herschel/HOBYS key programme. Here, we carry out the census and characterise of the properties of the MDCs population of the NGC 6357 H II region. Methods: Our study is based on the Herschel/PACS and SPIRE 70-500 μm images of NGC 6357 complemented with (sub-)millimetre and mid-infrared data. We followed the procedure established by the Herschel/HOBYS consortium to extract ~0.1 pc massive dense cores using the getsources software. We estimated their physical parameters (temperatures, masses, luminosities) from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. Results: We obtain a complete census of 23 massive dense cores, amongst which one is found to be IR-quiet and twelve are starless, representing very early stages of the star-formation process. Focussing on the starless MDCs, we have considered their evolutionary status, and suggest that only five of them are likely to form a high-mass star. Conclusions: We find that, contrarily to the case in NGC 6334, the NGC 6357 region does not exhibit any ridge or hub features that are believed to be crucial to the massive star formation process. This study adds support for an empirical model in which massive dense cores and protostars simultaneously accrete mass from the surrounding filaments. In addition, the massive star formation in NGC 6357 seems to have stopped and the hottest stars in Pismis 24 have disrupted the filaments. Full Table C1, Tables C2-C5, the reduced Herschel FITS images and the column density FITS image are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/625/A134 Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

We present images of radio recombination lines (RRLs) at wavelengths around 17 cm from the star-forming region W49A to determine the kinematics of ionized gas in the THOR survey (The HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the inner Milky Way) at an angular resolution of 16.8"x13.8". The distribution of ionized gas appears to be affected by feedback processes from the star clusters in W49A. The velocity structure of the RRLs shows a complex behavior with respect to the molecular gas. We find a shell-like distribution of ionized gas as traced by RRL emission surrounding the central cluster of OB stars in W49A. We describe the evolution of the shell with the recent feedback model code WARPFIELD that includes the important physical processes and has previously been applied to the 30 Doradus region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The cloud structure and dynamics of W49A are in agreement with a feedback-driven shell that is re-collapsing. The shell may have triggered star formation in other parts of W49A. We suggest that W49A is a potential candidate for star formation regulated by feedback-driven and re-collapsing shells., 17 pages, 9 figures. Published in A&A. Updated to match published version

We introduce the histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), a tool developed for machine vision that we propose as a new metric for the systematic characterization of observations of atomic and molecular gas and the study of molecular cloud formation models. In essence, the HOG technique takes as input extended spectral-line observations from two tracers and provides an estimate of their spatial correlation across velocity channels. We characterize HOG using synthetic observations of HI and $^{13}$CO(J=1-0) emission from numerical simulations of MHD turbulence leading to the formation of molecular gas after the collision of two atomic clouds. We find a significant spatial correlation between the two tracers in velocity channels where $v_{HI}\approx v_{^{13}CO}$, independent of the orientation of the collision with respect to the line of sight. We use HOG to investigate the spatial correlation of the HI, from the THOR survey, and the $^{13}$CO(J=1-0) emission, from the GRS, toward the portion of the Galactic plane 33.75$\lt l\lt$35.25$^{o}$ and $|b|\lt$1.25$^{o}$. We find a significant spatial correlation between the tracers in extended portions of the studied region. Although some of the regions with high spatial correlation are associated with HI self-absorption features, suggesting that it is produced by the cold atomic gas, the correlation is not exclusive to this kind of region. The HOG results also indicate significant differences between individual regions: some show spatial correlation in channels around $v_{HI}\approx v_{^{13}CO}$ while others present this correlation in velocity channels separated by a few km/s. We associate these velocity offsets to the effect of feedback and to the presence of physical conditions that are not included in the atomic-cloud-collision simulations, such as more general magnetic field configurations, shear, and global gas infall., Comment: 32 pages, 36 figures. Accepted for publication at A&A (28DEC2018)

We present initial results from the K-band focal plane array Examinations of Young STellar Object Natal Environments (KEYSTONE) survey, a large project on the 100-m Green Bank Telescope mapping ammonia emission across eleven giant molecular clouds at distances of $0.9-3.0$ kpc (Cygnus X North, Cygnus X South, M16, M17, MonR1, MonR2, NGC2264, NGC7538, Rosette, W3, and W48). This data release includes the NH$_3$ (1,1) and (2,2) maps for each cloud, which are modeled to produce maps of kinetic temperature, centroid velocity, velocity dispersion, and ammonia column density. Median cloud kinetic temperatures range from $11.4\pm2.2$ K in the coldest cloud (MonR1) to $23.0\pm6.5$ K in the warmest cloud (M17). Using dendrograms on the NH$_3$ (1,1) integrated intensity maps, we identify 856 dense gas clumps across the eleven clouds. Depending on the cloud observed, $40-100\%$ of the clumps are aligned spatially with filaments identified in H$_2$ column density maps derived from SED-fitting of dust continuum emission. A virial analysis reveals that 523 of the 835 clumps ($\sim63\%$) with mass estimates are bound by gravity alone. We find no significant difference between the virial parameter distributions for clumps aligned with the dust-continuum filaments and those unaligned with filaments. In some clouds, however, hubs or ridges of dense gas with unusually high mass and low virial parameters are located within a single filament or at the intersection of multiple filaments. These hubs and ridges tend to host water maser emission, multiple 70$\mu$m-detected protostars, and have masses and radii above an empirical threshold for forming massive stars., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

The H II region RCW120 is a well-known object, which is often considered as a target to verify theoretical models of gas and dust dynamics in the interstellar medium. However, the exact geometry of RCW120 is still a matter of debate. In this work, we analyse observational data on molecular emission in RCW120 and show that 13CO(2-1) and C18O(2-1) lines are fitted by a 2D model representing a ring-like face-on structure. The changing of the C18O(3-2) line profile from double-peaked to single-peaked from the dense molecular Condensation 1 might be a signature of stalled expansion in this direction. In order to explain a self-absorption dip of the 13CO(2-1) and 13CO(3-2) lines, we suggest that RCW120 is surrounded by a diffuse molecular cloud, and find confirmation of this cloud on a map of interstellar extinction. Optically thick 13CO(2-1) emission and the infrared 8 um PAH band form a neutral envelope of the H II region resembling a ring, while the envelope breaks into separate clumps on images made with optically thin C18O(2-1) line and far-infrared dust emission., Comment: accepted to MNRAS

The census of Galactic HII regions is vastly incomplete in the Southern sky. We use the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to observe 4-10 GHz radio continuum and hydrogen radio recombination line (RRL) emission from candidate HII regions in the Galactic zone 259 deg < l < 344 deg, |b| < 4 deg. In this first data release, we target the brightest HII region candidates and observe 282 fields in the direction of at least one previously-known or candidate HII region. We detect radio continuum emission and RRL emission in 275 (97.5%) and 258 (91.5%) of these fields, respectively. We catalog the ~7 GHz radio continuum peak flux densities and positions of 80 previously-known and 298 candidate HII regions. After averaging ~18 RRL transitions, we detect 77 RRL velocity components towards 76 previously-known HII regions and 267 RRL velocity components towards 256 HII region candidates. The discovery of RRL emission from these nebulae increases the number of known Galactic HII regions in the surveyed zone by 82%, to 568 nebulae. In the fourth quadrant we discover 50 RRLs with positive velocities, placing those sources outside the Solar circle. Including the pilot survey, the SHRDS has now discovered 295 Galactic HII regions. In the next data release we expect to add ~200 fainter and more distant nebulae., 113 pages, 15 figures, 11 tables (at the end); accepted for publication in ApJS

Using Green Bank Telescope radio recombination line (RRL) data, we analyze the role of leaking radiation from HII regions in maintaining the ionization of the interstellar medium. We observed a sample of eight Galactic HII regions of various sizes, morphologies, and luminosities. For each region the hydrogen RRL intensity decreases roughly as a power-law with distance from the center of the region. This suggests that radiation leaking from the HII region is responsible for the majority of surrounding ionized gas producing RRL emission. Our results further indicate that the hydrogen RRL intensity appears to be fundamentally related to the HII region sizes traced by their photodissociation regions, such that physically smaller HII regions show a steeper decrease in intensity with increasing distance from the region centers. As a result, giant HII regions may have a much larger effect in maintaining the ionization of the interstellar medium. For six of the eight observed HII regions we find a decrease in the 4He+/H+ abundance ratio with increasing distance, indicating that He-ionizing photons are being absorbed within the ionization front of the HII region. There is enhanced carbon RRL emission toward directions with strong continuum background, suggesting that the carbon emission is amplified by stimulated emission., 46 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJS

The Galactic HII region luminosity function (LF) is an important metric for understanding global star formation properties of the Milky Way, but only a few studies have been done and all use relatively small numbers of HII regions. We use a sample of 797 first Galactic quadrant HII regions compiled from the WISE Catalog of Galactic HII Regions to examine the form of the LF at multiple infrared and radio wavelengths. Our sample is statistically complete for all regions powered by single stars of type O9.5V and earlier. We fit the LF at each wavelength with single and double power laws. Averaging the results from all wavelengths, the mean of the best-fit single power law index is $\langle\alpha\rangle=-1.75\,\pm\,0.01$. The mean best-fit double power law indices are $\langle\alpha_1\rangle=-1.40\,\pm\,0.03$ and $\langle\alpha_2\rangle=-2.33\,\pm\,0.04$. We conclude that neither a single nor a double power law is strongly favored over the other. The LFs show some variation when we separate the HII region sample into subsets by heliocentric distance, physical size, Galactocentric radius, and location relative to the spiral arms, but blending individual HII regions into larger complexes does not change the value of the power law indices of the best-fit LF models. The consistency of the power law indices across multiple wavelengths suggests that the LF is independent of wavelength. This implies that infrared and radio tracers can be employed in place of H$\alpha$., Comment: 41 pages, 21 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Aims. We aim to identify bipolar Galactic H II regions and to understand their parental cloud structures, morphologies, evolution, and impact on the formation of new generations of stars. Methods. We use the Spitzer-GLIMPSE, Spitzer-MIPSGAL, and Herschel-Hi-GAL surveys to identify bipolar H II regions and to examine their morphologies. We search for their exciting star(s) using NIR data from the 2MASS, UKIDSS, and VISTA surveys. Massive molecular clumps are detected near these bipolar nebulae, and we estimate their temperatures, column densities, masses, and densities. We locate Class 0/I young stellar objects (YSOs) in their vicinities using the Spitzer and Herschel-PACS emission. Results. Numerical simulations suggest bipolar H II regions form and evolve in a two-dimensional flat- or sheet-like molecular cloud. We identified 16 bipolar nebulae in a zone of the Galactic plane between ℓ ± 60° and |b| < 1°. This small number, when compared with the 1377 bubble H II regions in the same area, suggests that most H II regions form and evolve in a three-dimensional medium. We present the catalogue of the 16 bipolar nebulae and a detailed investigation for six of these. Our results suggest that these regions formed in dense and flat structures that contain filaments. We find that bipolar H II regions have massive clumps in their surroundings. The most compact and massive clumps are always located at the waist of the bipolar nebula, adjacent to the ionised gas. These massive clumps are dense, with a mean density in the range of 105 cm−3 to several 106 cm−3 in their centres. Luminous Class 0/I sources of several thousand solar luminosities, many of which have associated maser emission, are embedded inside these clumps. We suggest that most, if not all, massive 0/I YSO formation has probably been triggered by the expansion of the central bipolar nebula, but the processes involved are still unknown. Modelling of such nebula is needed to understand the star formation processes at play.

We present first results for Faraday rotation of compact polarized sources (1 to 2 GHz continuum) in The HI/OH/Recombination line (THOR) survey of the inner Galaxy. In the Galactic longitude range 39 degr < l < 52 degr, we find rotation measures in the range -310 rad/m2 < RM < +4219 rad/m2, with the highest values concentrated within a degree of l = 48 degrees at the Sagittarius arm tangent. Most of the high RMs arise in diffuse plasma, along lines of sight that do not intersect HII regions. For l > 49 degr, RM drops off rapidly, while at l < 47 degr, the mean RM is higher with a larger standard deviation than at l > 49 degr. We attribute the RM structure to the compressed diffuse Warm Ionized Medium in the spiral arm, upstream of the major star formation regions. The Sagittarius arm acts as a significant Faraday screen inside the Galaxy. This has implications for models of the Galactic magnetic field and the expected amount of Faraday rotation of Fast Radio Bursts from their host galaxies. We emphasize the importance of sensitivity to high Faraday depth in future polarization surveys., Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters

Anderson et al. (2017) identified seventy six candidate supernova remnants (SNRs) using data from The HI, OH, Recombination line survey of the Milky Way (THOR). The spectral index and polarization properties can help distinguish between SNRs and H II regions, which are often confused. We confirm two SNR candidates using spectral index data and morphology. However, we observe that the fractional linear polarization cannot distinguish between SNRs and H II regions, likely due to contamination by diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission. We also comment on the association of SNR candidates with pulsars through geometric and age considerations., 12 pages, 4 figures; Accepted for publication in ApJ

We report the discovery of hydrogen radio recombination line (RRL) emission from two galaxies with star formation rates (SFRs) similar to that of the Milky Way: M51 and NGC628. We use the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to measure $\sim$15 Hn$\alpha$ recombination transitions simultaneously and average these data to improve our spectral signal-to-noise ratio. We show that our data can be used to estimate the total ionizing photon flux of these two sources, and we derive their SFRs within the GBT beam: $\Psi_{\rm OB} = 3.46$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ for M51 and $\Psi_{\rm OB} = 0.56$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ for NGC628. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to detect RRLs from normal galaxies that are not undergoing a starburst with current instrumentation and reasonable integration times ($\sim$12 hr for each source). We also show that we can characterize the overall star-forming properties of M51 and NGC628, although the GBT beam cannot resolve individual HII region complexes. Our results suggest that future instruments, such as the Square Kilometre Array and the Next Generation Very Large Array, will be able to detect RRL emission from a multitude of Milky Way-like galaxies, making it possible to determine SFRs of normal galaxies unaffected by extinction and to measure global star formation properties in the local universe., Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, 3 tables; Accepted for publication in PASP

The Outer Scutum-Centaurus arm (OSC) is the most distant molecular spiral arm known in the Milky Way. The OSC may be the very distant end of the well-known Scutum-Centaurus arm, which stretches from the end of the Galactic bar to the outer Galaxy. At this distance the OSC is seen in the first Galactic quadrant. The population of star formation tracers in the OSC remains largely uncharacterized. Extragalactic studies show a strong correlation between molecular gas and star formation, and carbon monoxide (CO) emission was recently discovered in the OSC. Here we use the Arizona Radio Observatory (ARO) 12-m telescope to observe the $^{12}$CO J = 1-0 and $^{13}$CO J = 1-0 transitions toward 78 HII region candidates chosen from the WISE Catalog of Galactic HII Regions. These targets are spatially coincident with the Galactic longitude-latitude ($\ell, b$) OSC locus as defined by HI emission. We detect CO emission in $\sim 80$% of our targets. In total, we detect 117 $^{12}$CO and 40 $^{13}$CO emission lines. About 2/3 of our targets have at least one emission line originating beyond the Solar orbit. Most of the detections beyond the Solar orbit are associated with the Outer Arm, but there are 17 $^{12}$CO emission lines and 8 $^{13}$CO emission lines with LSR velocities that are consistent with the velocities of the OSC. There is no apparent difference between the physical properties (e.g., molecular column density) of these OSC molecular clouds and non--OSC molecular clouds within our sample., 16 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

As part of our ongoing HII Region Discovery Survey (HRDS), we report the Green Bank Telescope detection of 148 new angularly-large Galactic HII regions in radio recombination line (RRL) emission. Our targets are located at a declination greater than -45deg., which corresponds to 266deg. > l > -20deg. at b = 0deg. All sources were selected from the WISE Catalog of Galactic HII Regions, and have infrared angular diameters >260''. The Galactic distribution of these "large" HII regions is similar to that of the previously-known sample of Galactic HII regions. The large HII region RRL line width and peak line intensity distributions are skewed toward lower values compared with that of previous HRDS surveys. We discover 7 sources with extremely narrow RRLs 100 pc, making them some of the physically largest known HII regions in the Galaxy. This survey completes the HRDS HII region census in the Northern sky, where we have discovered 887 HII regions and more than doubled the previously-known census of Galactic HII regions., Accepted in ApJS

We derive infrared and radio flux densities of all ~1000 known Galactic HII regions in the Galactic longitude range 17.5 < l < 65 degree. Our sample comes from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) catalog of Galactic \hii regions \citep{anderson2014}. We compute flux densities at six wavelengths in the infrared (GLIMPSE 8 microns, WISE 12 microns and 22 microns, MIPSGAL 24 microns, and Hi-GAL 70 microns and 160 microns) and two in the radio (MAGPIS 20 cm and VGPS 21 cm). All HII region infrared flux densities are strongly correlated with their ~20 cm flux densities. All HII regions used here, regardless of physical size or Galactocentric radius, have similar infrared to radio flux density ratios and similar infrared colors, although the smallest regions ($r, 27 pages, 16 figures, 5 tables

There is a considerable deficiency in the number of known supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Galaxy compared to that expected. Searches for extended low-surface brightness radio sources may find new Galactic SNRs, but confusion with the much larger population of HII regions makes identifying such features challenging. SNRs can, however, be separated from HII regions using their significantly lower mid-infrared (MIR) to radio continuum intensity ratios. We use the combination of high-resolution 1-2 GHz continuum data from The HI, OH, Recombination line survey of the Milky Way (THOR) and lower-resolution VLA 1.4 GHz Galactic Plane Survey (VGPS) continuum data, together with MIR data from the Spitzer GLIMPSE, Spitzer MIPSGAL, and WISE surveys to identify SNR candidates. To ensure that the candidates are not being confused with HII regions, we exclude radio continuum sources from the WISE Catalog of Galactic HII Regions, which contains all known and candidate H II regions in the Galaxy. We locate 76 new Galactic SNR candidates in the THOR and VGPS combined survey area of 67.4deg>l>17.5deg, |b, Accepted for publication in A&A

Triggered star formation around HII regions could be an important process. The Galactic HII region RCW 79 is a prototypical object for triggered high-mass star formation. We take advantage of Herschel data from the surveys HOBYS, "Evolution of Interstellar Dust", and Hi-Gal to extract compact sources in this region, complemented with archival 2MASS, Spitzer, and WISE data to determine the physical parameters of the sources (e.g., envelope mass, dust temperature, and luminosity) by fitting the spectral energy distribution. We obtained a sample of 50 compact sources, 96% of which are situated in the ionization-compressed layer of cold and dense gas that is characterized by the column density PDF with a double-peaked lognormal distribution. The 50 sources have sizes of 0.1-0.4 pc with a typical value of 0.2 pc, temperatures of 11-26 K, envelope masses of 6-760 $M_\odot$, densities of 0.1-44 $\times$ $10^5$ cm$^{-3}$, and luminosities of 19-12712 $L_\odot$. The sources are classified into 16 class 0, 19 intermediate, and 15 class I objects. Their distribution follows the evolutionary tracks in the diagram of bolometric luminosity versus envelope mass (Lbol-Menv) well. A mass threshold of 140 $M_\odot$, determined from the Lbol-Menv diagram, yields 12 candidate massive dense cores that may form high-mass stars. The core formation efficiency (CFE) for the 8 massive condensations shows an increasing trend of the CFE with density. This suggests that the denser the condensation, the higher the fraction of its mass transformation into dense cores, as previously observed in other high-mass star-forming regions., Accepted by A&A on 17 January 2017

The Southern HII Region Discovery Survey (SHRDS) is a survey of the third and fourth quadrants of the Galactic plane that will detect radio recombination line and continuum emission at cm-wavelengths from several hundred HII region candidates using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The targets for this survey come from the WISE Catalog of Galactic HII Regions, and were identified based on mid-infrared and radio continuum emission. In this pilot project, two different configurations of the Compact Array Broad Band receiver and spectrometer system were used for short test observations. The pilot surveys detected radio recombination line emission from 36 of 53 HII region candidates, as well as seven known \hii regions that were included for calibration. These 36 recombination line detections confirm that the candidates are true HII regions, and allow us to estimate their distances., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, Astronomical Journal in press

Aims: To constrain models of high-mass star formation, the Herschel-HOBYS key program aims at discovering massive dense cores (MDCs) able to host the high-mass analogs of low-mass prestellar cores, which have been searched for over the past decade. We here focus on NGC 6334, one of the best-studied HOBYS molecular cloud complexes. Methods: We used Herschel/PACS and SPIRE 70-500 μm images of the NGC 6334 complex complemented with (sub)millimeter and mid-infrared data. We built a complete procedure to extract 0.1 pc dense cores with the getsources software, which simultaneously measures their far-infrared to millimeter fluxes. We carefully estimated the temperatures and masses of these dense cores from their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We also identified the densest pc-scale cloud structures of NGC 6334, one 2 pc × 1 pc ridge and two 0.8 pc × 0.8 pc hubs, with volume-averaged densities of 105 cm-3. Results: A cross-correlation with high-mass star formation signposts suggests a mass threshold of 75 M☉ for MDCs in NGC 6334. MDCs have temperatures of 9.5-40 K, masses of 75-1000 M☉, and densities of 1 × 105-7 × 107 cm-3. Their mid-infrared emission is used to separate 6 IR-bright and 10 IR-quiet protostellar MDCs while their 70 μm emission strength, with respect to fitted SEDs, helps identify 16 starless MDC candidates. The ability of the latter to host high-mass prestellar cores is investigated here and remains questionable. An increase in mass and density from the starless to the IR-quiet and IR-bright phases suggests that the protostars and MDCs simultaneously grow in mass. The statistical lifetimes of the high-mass prestellar and protostellar core phases, estimated to be 1-7 × 104 yr and at most 3 × 105 yr respectively, suggest a dynamical scenario of high-mass star formation. Conclusions: The present study provides good mass estimates for a statistically significant sample, covering the earliest phases of high-mass star formation. High-mass prestellar cores may not exist in NGC 6334, favoring a scenario presented here, which simultaneously forms clouds, ridges, MDCs, and high-mass protostars. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA. Catalogs built from Tables A.1-A.12, are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/602/A77

We present a method for deriving the electron density of ionized gas using the ratio of the intensity of the [NII] 205um line to that of Hydrogen radio recombination lines (RRL). We use this method to derive electron densities of 21 velocity components in 11 lines of sight through the Galaxy, including the Galactic center. We observed, at high--spectral resolution, the [NII] 205um line with the Herschel/HIFI and SOFIA/GREAT instruments and the radio recombination lines with the Green Bank Telescope and the NASA Deep Space Network Deep Space Station 43 (DSS--43) telescope. We find typical electron densities between 6 to 170 cm^-3, which are consistent with those derived at low spectral resolution using the [NII] 205um/122um line ratio with Herschel/PACS on a larger sample of sight lines in the Galactic plane. By matching the electron densities derived from the [NII] 205um/RRL intensity ratio and the [NII] 122um/205um intensity ratio, we derive the nitrogen fractional abundance for most of the velocity components. We investigate the dependence of the N/H ratio with Galactocentric distance in the inner Galaxy (R_gal, 20 pages, 9 figures, ApJ in press